What is the Renderworks Camera?

Visualization methods in Vectorworks help bring your ideas to life and help communicate design intent with clients.

Read on to learn how to utilize Renderworks Camera objects to create picture-perfect views.

The Renderworks Camera object is similar to a traditional camera. With the object, you can control your lens, aperture, and shutter speed to create any desired view of your model. You also have control over focal length aiding in the precision of your view.

Think of the object simply as a tripod you’re setting up in your model. Curious what the kitchen you designed looks like from the living room? What about a dining room from an adjacent hallway? Since you can put Renderworks Cameras anywhere in your design, you and your client are able to visualize the space from a whole new perspective.

Place as many camera objects in your design as you desire. Additionally, you’re able to share camera presets between files, as opposed to saved views when you’re only navigating a rendering.

The Renderworks Camera is also perfect for your next presentation because it reduces the time you need to spend in post-production applications.

Follow the steps below to set up your Renderworks Camera object:

1. Select the object in the Visualization palette.*
2. Click once to select where in your document you want the camera to be placed.*
3. Click a second time to determine what the camera is looking at.*
4. Adjust view angle to expand or contract field of view.*
5. Reference the Object Info Palette (OIP) to precisely adjust many of the camera’s settings.
6. Once in the OIP, name your camera view. If you’re using more than one camera, we recommend naming the object based upon the view it’s providing.
7. Adjust Rotation, Camera Height, and Look To Height (tilt) in the OIP.

*Please note that steps 1-4 take place in Top/Plan view.

FREE RENDERWORKS CAMERA WEBINAR

As we mentioned above, using the Renderworks Camera allows you to raise the overall quality of your renderings.

Renderworks Cameras can apply various physical Camera Effects to a rendered image, most often to viewports created from a camera. Below are some of the Camera Effects you can use to emulate realistic camera styles.

Depth of Field is a visual effect in which some objects — normally the objects you’re focusing on — appear sharp and clear, with other objects appearing blurred.

This effect can create greater emphasis on a specific element of your design. It can also help communicate the overall size of a given space.

Exposure allows you to control how much light is included in the render. Use this effect to create a dramatic image when presenting your next design to a client.

Bloom is controlled with a simple percentage setting. The Bloom percentage in any rendering begins at a default value of zero.

For a realistic Bloom on your rendering, we recommend staying in between zero and 20 percent. Anything higher will give your design a more surreal appearance.

Vignette creates a faded blackness effect around the edges of your rendered image. Much like Exposure, Vignette can be used to create dramatic renderings that’ll leave your client speechless!

The final Camera Effect you can use inside of the Renderworks Camera is Chromatic Aberration. This effect adds randomized distortions of color to a color, helping create a unique, stylized vision of your design.

When using any of the aforementioned Camera Effects, be sure to select “Camera Effects” in the Edit Renderworks Style dialogue so that you can see the stunning effects.

In addition to the Camera Effects you can use on your Renderworks rendering, you can also apply several Image Effects. These take you one step further to creating presentation-ready renderings in a matter of seconds.

The Image Effects help you make edits — not unlike the ones you’d make in a mainstream image editing app — all from inside Vectorworks.

The Image Effects you have access to in Vectorworks include:

• Exposure
• Contrast
• Highlights
• Shadows
• Saturation
• Temperature
• Blur and Sharpness
• Sepia
• Soft Edges

The Renderworks Camera object allows you to create one-of-a-kind renderings. The object also allows you to spend less on your rendering in post-production, streamlining the efficiency of your design workflow.

For further instructions on getting started with the Renderworks Camera object, click the button below and watch a free training video.

LEARN HOW TO USE VECTORWORKS CAMERA